SCOOP: Paul Feig Donates $100,000 to National Immigration Law Center
'The inhumane and cruel persecution of immigrants in our communities is unconscionable and unacceptable,' Feig told Series Business
I write about TV from L.A. I wrote about the ICE raids shaking Hollywood’s immigrant workforce, interviewed a top agent-turned-manager about his take on the TV marketplace, reported on the boom in microdramas and wrote about how L.A. sound stages are scrambling as SoCal production dwindles. Reach me at elaine@theankler.com. As a paid subscriber to Series Business, you’ll receive dispatches from Elaine, Lesley Goldberg and Manori Ravindran on the TV business. This is a standalone subscription separate from The Ankler. For access to Series Business and everything The Ankler publishes, including Sean McNulty’s The Wakeup and Richard Rushfield, subscribe here.
This scoop was initially published on The Ankler as part of my story on the shows Apple TV+ wants to buy right now.
Amid the chaos and fear that the recent ICE immigration raids have caused in the city of Los Angeles and among hundreds of Hollywood workers, Bridesmaids and Another Simple Favor director Paul Feig is donating $100,000 to the National Immigration Law Center.
“The inhumane and cruel persecution of immigrants in our communities is unconscionable and unacceptable,” Feig said in a statement shared exclusively with The Ankler. “In Los Angeles and across the country, the hardworking people we interact with every day are sincere in their desire to build a rewarding life in the U.S. for themselves and their families. Their pursuit of the American Dream is precisely what our country was built on. After all, what’s more American than trying to make it in America? Instead of stoking fear and resentment, our country’s leaders should pursue immigration policies based on a fundamental truth: immigrants make us stronger.”
The National Immigration Law Center is a group that advocates for the rights of low-income immigrants and their families. This is not the first significant donation Feig has made to advocacy groups this year. In February, he and his wife Laurie donated $300,000 to several queer youth advocacy groups, including The Trevor Project.
The day-to-day business of Hollywood has been impacted in ways you may not have noticed but are very real: LiUNA! Local 724 leader Alex Aguilar, Jr. told me last week that some members of his 1,800-person union, which reps studio janitorial staff and utility workers who support set builders, worry that they will be racially profiled and harassed at their studio jobs, despite residing in the country legally.
They say they’re “afraid to come to work, because now [ICE agents are] just picking up anybody, right?” he said. The perception is that law enforcement believes “if you’re brown and you have an accent, then you’re here illegally.”
“Now more than ever, we need Americans from all walks of life to step up and fight to support vulnerable immigrants,” said Kica Matos, president of the National Immigration Law Center. “Not only are they under attack, but the path to authoritarianism is being built on their backs. We are grateful for Paul’s generous support, as it will help continue to fuel our advocacy — not just in support of low income immigrants, but also our democracy.”
Local reports reflect the fear that is rattling L.A. neighborhoods. Workers at restaurants and hotels — all of which bolster the entertainment industry — are frightened. For instance, the normally bustling Grand Central Market in DTLA is “nearly empty,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Just as food service workers wonder how the restaurant industry will protect them, there has been a call for major Hollywood studios to take a stand for the unseen workers who help power an enormously powerful industry.
To read more of our coverage on the impact of the recent ICE raids on the entertainment business, click here — the paywall has been removed and is now available for all to read.
Thoughts? Email me at elaine@theankler.com.